[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-en-case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners":3,"blog-related-latest-en-case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners":50,"blog-related-category-en-case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners":63,"blog-translations-case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners":73},{"id":4,"type":5,"locale":6,"slug":7,"title":8,"description":9,"body":10,"status":11,"section":12,"tags":13,"author":18,"cover_url":19,"published_at":20,"metadata":21,"template":5,"sort_order":45,"source_id":46,"search_vector":47,"created_at":48,"updated_at":49},"57ed3c8f-e199-44de-af7a-ca98bcd56df8","blog","en","case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners","Case study proof to request from Amazon partners","Ask every case study for four things, the starting numbers, the window, the category, and what else changed. Then ask for one engagement that did not work.","Ask for the starting numbers, the window, the category, and what else changed during the\nperiod. A case study without all four is a percentage with no denominator. Then ask for one\nwhere it did not work, which is the request that actually separates candidates.\n\n## The short version\n\n- **Demand the baseline.** A 300% lift from a broken account is a low bar.\n- **Demand the window** and check it is not a seasonal peak.\n- **Ask what else changed.** New product, new price, new season, or new supply.\n- **Ask for a failure.** Every real operator has one.\n- **Ask to speak to the client.** The answer to the request is informative either way.\n\n## What a real case study contains\n\nI run Flapen with 50 operators managing about 70 brands, and the majority are\nprofitable within their first year. That sentence is an example of the problem: it is true,\nand on its own it is not evidence you can check.\n\n| Element | Why it matters | Common omission |\n|---|---|---|\n| Starting numbers | A percentage needs a denominator | \"300% growth\" from what |\n| Time window | Seasonality distorts everything | Peak-to-peak comparisons |\n| Category | Economics vary hugely by category | Unnamed \"consumer goods\" |\n| Price point | A $12 and a $90 product behave differently | Never stated |\n| What else changed | Attribution | New product launched same quarter |\n| Cost of customer acquisition | Whether growth was profitable | Revenue only |\n| Duration of engagement | Whether it lasted | One good quarter presented as a result |\n\nThe row that gets omitted most is \"what else changed\". Revenue rising 200 percent during a\nquarter when the client also launched two products and entered a new marketplace is a real\nnumber and not evidence of anything the agency did.\n\n## The four questions to ask about any case study\n\n1. **What were the numbers on day one?**\n2. **What is the window, and does it cross a seasonal peak?**\n3. **What else changed during that period?**\n4. **What happened to cost of customer acquisition?**\n\nQuestion four catches the most common flattering presentation. Revenue and spend both rising\nlooks like success and is what a budget increase produces on its own. Whether acquisition\ncost improved is the question that separates growth from purchased volume.\n\n## The request that actually sorts candidates\n\nAsk for an engagement that did not work.\n\nEvery operator has one. Products that failed despite good execution, clients where the\ndiagnosis was right and the market was wrong, launches killed at the validation stage. I kept\npouring money into a failing product for three months hoping the ads would turn around. They\ndid not, and that experience produced the kill criteria we use now.\n\nAn agency with no failure story either has not operated long, or is not going to be candid\nwith you when something goes wrong on your account. The willingness to describe one is a\nbetter predictor of the working relationship than any success story.\n\n## Reference calls\n\nAsk to speak to a current client and a former one.\n\nThe former client request is the informative half. Every agency has references who are\ndelighted. An agency willing to connect you with someone who left is telling you the\nrelationship ended cleanly, which is itself the thing you most want to know about how a\npartnership concludes.\n\nIf the answer is no, that is not damning on its own. Ask why, and listen to whether the\nreason is about confidentiality or about the relationship.\n\n## What to accept in place of numbers\n\nSometimes a candidate cannot share figures, because the client forbids it. That is\nlegitimate and it does not have to end the conversation.\n\nWhat they can always do is walk you through the reasoning on a redacted account: what the\ndiagnosis was, what they changed first and why, what they expected to move, and what actually\nmoved. That narrative is more useful than a headline percentage, because you are evaluating\njudgment rather than an outcome you cannot verify.\n\nBetter still, ask them to run the same reasoning live on one of your own products. You learn\nmore in twenty minutes of that than from any deck.\n\n## What most agencies will not tell you\n\nCase studies are marketing assets, selected from the best available outcomes, with the window\nand metrics chosen after the fact. That is not deception, it is how the format works, and\neveryone producing them knows it.\n\nWhich is why the useful move is to stop evaluating the case study and start evaluating the\nreasoning behind it. Ask why the agency chose that intervention first, what they considered\nand rejected, and what would have made them advise the client differently. Those answers\ncannot be prepared in advance for your specific product.\n\nThe second thing: a spectacular percentage often means the account was badly managed before.\nThat says more about the previous agency than about the current one, and a candidate who\nvolunteers that context unprompted is being straight with you.\n\n## Related answers\n\n- [Agencies with proven results in Amazon Europe](\u002Fblog\u002Fagencies-with-proven-results-in-amazon-europe)\n- [Top Amazon advertising agencies ranked](\u002Fblog\u002Ftop-amazon-advertising-agencies-ranked)\n- [Transparent reporting tools for Amazon sellers](\u002Fblog\u002Ftransparent-reporting-tools-for-amazon-sellers)\n- [Best Amazon marketing agencies for sellers](\u002Fblog\u002Fbest-amazon-marketing-agencies-for-sellers)\n- [Hiring an Amazon agency: the complete guide](\u002Fblog\u002Fhiring-an-agency)\n\nAsk us for one that did not work. We will tell you about it at [Flapen](\u002Famazon-consulting).\n\n## Keep learning\n\n- [Compare Amazon business models](\u002Fguides\u002Fbusiness-models)\n- [Value your Amazon business](\u002Ftools\u002Fbusiness-value-calculator)\n","published","working-with-agencies",[14,15,16,17],"amazon-fba","ppc","seller-account","competitor-analysis","joel-turcotte-gaucher","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fclusters\u002Fhiring-an-agency-03.jpg","2026-09-04T01:28:51.798+00:00",{"faq":22,"seo":39,"batch":40,"cluster":41,"cover_alt":42,"answers_prompt":43,"primary_benchmark":44},[23,27,31,35],{"id":24,"answer":25,"question":26},"case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners-faq-1","What else changed during the measurement window. Revenue rising while the client also launched products or entered marketplaces is a real number that proves nothing about the agency's contribution.","What single element is most often missing?",{"id":28,"answer":29,"question":30},"case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners-faq-2","Because every real operator has one, and the willingness to describe it predicts how candid the agency will be when something goes wrong on your account.","Why ask for a failure story?",{"id":32,"answer":33,"question":34},"case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners-faq-3","Accept a redacted walkthrough of the reasoning: the diagnosis, what they changed first, what they expected to move, and what did. Then ask them to apply the same reasoning live to one of your products.","What if they cannot share client numbers?",{"id":36,"answer":37,"question":38},"case-study-proof-to-request-from-amazon-partners-faq-4","Yes, and the response matters more than the call. An agency comfortable connecting you with someone who left is telling you its relationships end cleanly.","Should I ask for a reference from a former client?",{},"B02","C01","Flapen cover for Case study proof to request from Amazon partners: a Flapen operator showing a client a sales chart beside an open proposal binder","case study proof to request from amazon partners","B9",0,null,"'\u002Famazon-consulting':902C '\u002Fblog\u002Fagencies-with-proven-results-in-amazon-europe':857C '\u002Fblog\u002Fbest-amazon-marketing-agencies-for-sellers':877C '\u002Fblog\u002Fhiring-an-agency':885C '\u002Fblog\u002Ftop-amazon-advertising-agencies-ranked':863C '\u002Fblog\u002Ftransparent-reporting-tools-for-amazon-sellers':870C '\u002Fguides\u002Fbusiness-models':909C '\u002Ftools\u002Fbusiness-value-calculator':914C '1':323C '12':232C '2':331C '200':285C '3':343C '300':88C,206C '4':350C '50':156C '70':160C '90':235C 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'your':493C,697C,806C,911C","2026-09-04T16:27:27.075028+00:00","2026-09-04T16:34:16.170784+00:00",[51,55,59],{"slug":52,"title":53,"published_at":54},"brand-tiers","Amazon brand management tiers: the complete guide","2026-09-04T16:33:51.798+00:00",{"slug":56,"title":57,"published_at":58},"geography-and-marketplaces","Amazon marketplaces by geography: the complete guide","2026-09-04T16:32:51.798+00:00",{"slug":60,"title":61,"published_at":62},"measurement-and-audit","Amazon account measurement and audits: the complete guide","2026-09-04T16:31:51.798+00:00",[64,65,69],{"slug":52,"title":53,"published_at":54},{"slug":66,"title":67,"published_at":68},"done-for-you-management","Done-for-you Amazon management: the complete guide","2026-09-04T16:26:51.798+00:00",{"slug":70,"title":71,"published_at":72},"build-vs-buy","Build vs buy for your Amazon channel: the complete guide","2026-09-04T16:25:51.798+00:00",[]]